18 September 2006
Burma, Venezuela "Failed Demonstrably" in Anti-drug Efforts
Annual finding by White House puts 20 nations on list of major drug producers
Washington – An annual world survey of governments’ anti-drug efforts concludes that Burma and Venezuela have “failed demonstrably” to enact counternarcotics-trafficking strategies in keeping with international agreements, according to a determination issued by the White House September 18.
For the second year in a row, these two nations have been so designated among 20 nations identified as major drug-transit or major illicit drug-producing countries.
Briefing reporters on the White House decisions, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) Christy McCampbell said Burma is considered a failure because it has not taken strong action against drug gangs, and its actions against methamphetamine are unsatisfactory.
“Burma’s performance is also lackluster in the areas of demand reduction, interdiction, anti-money laundering and combating corruption,” McCampbell said of the Southeast Asian nation considered the world’s second-largest producer of opium poppy after Afghanistan.
Under U.S. law, the designation of demonstrable failure in this assessment means that a country can be found ineligible for U.S. assistance, though assistance usually is preserved for humanitarian and countertrafficking activities.
The 20 countries on what is known as “the majors” list are Afghanistan, Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, Burma, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela.
The list of countries and those designated to have failed in their commitments in countertrafficking are identical to the findings delivered to Congress in September 2005. (See related article.)
WESTERN HEMISPHERE
The presidential finding does not call for full sanctions to be levied in response to Venezuela’s weak drug-fighting record, because “support for programs to Venezuela’s democratic institutions is vital to the national interests of the United States,“ according to the determination memorandum sent from the president to the secretary of state.
McCampbell said Venezuelan authorities had turned in a “poor performance” in cooperating with their neighbors in anti-trafficking activities at a time of “soaring drug transshipments, plummeting seizures, failure to prosecute corrupt officials, and the indeterminate status of the [U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration] presence in the country.”
The administration cites concern about a decline in Bolivian counternarcotics cooperation over the last year, citing policies that have allowed the expansion of coca cultivation.
The report also cites Bolivia’s cooperation in interdiction operations resulting in cocaine seizures, and challenges the nation to step up its activity in this area.
“Over the next six months, the U.S. is encouraging this country to eradicate at least 5,000 hectares of illegal cocoa, establish tight controls on sale of illicit coca leaf for traditional use, and strengthen controls on chemicals used to make cocaine,” McCampbell said.
The government of Ecuador is described as making “considerable progress in combating narcotics trafficking destined for the United States.”
However, the Bush administration has determined that increasing amounts of cocaine are being transported in ships flying the Ecuadorian flag. The U.S. Coast Guard and the Ecuadorian navy are engaged in cooperative efforts to interdict shipments.
CENTRAL-SOUTH ASIA
Afghanistan remains the world’s leading producer of opium poppy, growing nearly 90 percent of the world’s supply, according to a related report on international narcotics issued by INL in March. (See related article.)
In a war-ravaged country with little economic opportunity, farmers have seized on coca as the most profitable crop they can grow. The earlier report estimated that coca accounts for one-third of Afghanistan’s gross domestic product.
The presidential determination issued September 18 credits Afghan President Hamid Karzai with a strong attack on narco-trafficking but calls for greater accountability at all levels of government to end poppy cultivation.
With a pointed warning about government corruption, the administration sees high stakes in the Afghan war on drugs.
“We are concerned that failure to act decisively now could undermine security, compromise democratic legitimacy and imperil international support for vital assistance,” according to the White House memo.
Drug trafficking and cultivation in Afghanistan spill across the border into neighboring Pakistan, where traffickers in the western provinces provide financing, processing and transport routes for the drugs.
This presidential determination reaches some tough conclusions about the extent of drug trafficking in some countries, but McCampbell said the findings should not be considered a condemnation.
“Nobody is sitting in judgment,” McCampbell said. “We're actually trying to work together and figure out how we can solve these problems.”
The full text of the presidential determination is available on the White House Web site.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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